Once
by foreveralurker
Summary: Ichigo thought she never visited, but she did once. Set during the time Ichigo lost his power.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

-.-.-.-

A lone figure stood on top of the highest building in Kararura town.

The night was quiet. The moon shone brightly, giving the city a silver glow. A cool breeze blew a strand of dark hair from the Shinigami's face.

Rukia drew a deep breath. It'd been a month since Ichigo'd lost his power. A month since they'd bid goodbye. Yet, this was only the first time she had come back.

Many people had questioned why she'd never once come back to the human world. Renji had asked. Kiyone and Sentarou had asked. Hanatarou had asked. Even her brother had sometimes given her a silent, questioning stare. And every time, she had given her answer – there's no reason to.

And finally, there had been a reason that night. She had been ordered to bring finalized reports to Kurumadani to clarify any problems regarding Kararura town. Since it was only a very short mission, she had concealed her reiatsu tightly not to alert anyone of her arrival. There was no point for her friends to come greet her in the middle of the night when she was only going to stay a few minutes. That had been the plan, yet even when Kurumadani had left, she was still standing there, watching the city that was so familiar, yet was not hers.

She was tempted to look around. She wanted to see the school she had attended, where she had experienced a human life for the first time. She wanted to see the shops the girls at school had brought her to, or the marketplace with the old man to had kept trying to swindle her into buying things. And most of all, she wanted to see the house she had missed so much – the Kurosaki house.

Damn temptation. Before she was fully aware of what she was doing, her feet had taken a leap. She leaped from one telephone pole to another, taking in the scenery down below. Each spot of the city brought back memories, ones she had pushed to the back of her head to take care of all the work that popped up after the war with Aizen was over. Finally, she landed on the same telephone pole she had stood on that fateful night when her world had been changed forever, and gazed down at the house she had missed most.

His window was opened. If there was one thing absolutely not to do, it was to go in. Yet she did just that. With just a light jump, she entered that window like she had so many times before. This is the second time that night she had given in to temptation, which was not something she did often.

The lights were off, and it was dark. There was moonlight, but in this room it was faint. So, it took Rukia's eyes a few seconds to adjust before she saw him.

Ah, she finally remembered the real reason she hadn't wanted to come back here for the last month.

Ichigo was sitting on the floor, leaning against the closet and staring out the window. The closet door was opened, so it looked as if he had opened the closet trying to find something there but then had given up when he found nothing. His face was calm, and his signature scowl was in place as it always had been, but his eyes seemed lost. Rukia had seen many negative emotions in those eyes before – anger, fear, self-doubt and despair, but not once had she seen them so devoid of emotions. He just looked completely drained. Rukia wanted to reach out a hand to touch him, to knock him on the head, and to scream at him to stop looking like such an idiot. But if she did, it would be the third time she gave in to temptation that night, and twice was already enough.

Besides, he couldn't sense her anyway.

Ichigo let out a sigh and stood up. For a moment when his eyes were level with hers, she almost thought he could gaze directly at her, but that moment was gone in a flash. Ichigo straightened, turned his back to her and slowly closed the closet door.

At that point, she ran.

The wind whipped her hair wildly, but it still couldn't match how wildly her thoughts were swirling in her head. The cool night air did nothing to cool her mind, and the silence of the night only made the noises in her head louder. Yet, when she arrived at the place she needed to be, she was calm.

"Kuchiki-san, my dearest customer! I haven't seen you in a long time! What business could you have here at such a late hour?" greeted the man in a striped hat and sandals.

"We need to get Ichigo power's back."

"Of course. I have been working on it, but I'm afraid right now I still haven't had much progress – "

"Power transfer. Like the first time he met me. Can you find a safe way?"

Urahara studied her face. She looked composed and determined, despite her thoughts running wildly just a while ago. Then, Urahara spoke,

"That could work. Although, it may take me some time to find a completely safe method. And we will need a large source of reiatsu, and yours will definitely be needed for compatibility."

"I will be training and taking care of thing on my part. Please do whatever you need to do."

The man continued to study her, and nodded. Once she had left the shop to return to Soul Society, there was one thought left on her mind.

The next time she sees Ichigo, she would definitely give him a kick for being an idiot. And he would be able to see her when she does that.

-.-.-.-

_16 months later_

"Rukia, why did you never visit all that time?" Ichigo asked.

"I did. Once."

* * *

**A.N. An angsty one this time. It's been so long since the farewell happened and I already know they were reunited, but every time I reread chapter 423 I still need to clutch my heart. May they never have to say farewell like that again!**


End file.
